OUR PROGRAMS
At Wise Owl, we offer programs for children ranging from birth through to school age.
Infants
Birth to 18 months
In our Infant program, we focus on building a strong, trusting relationship with both your child and your family. It is very important to us that you and your child feel safe and welcome in our program as you begin your journey into daycare.
We are very flexible, ensuring we keep to your child’s home schedule as much as possible, working with you as your child progresses and reaches milestones. We ensure an environment where your child will feel competent and capable.
We strongly believe children deserve the same respect as individuals. We strive to listen and respect your child’s wants and needs, always considering their safety and health requirements. We provide an environment based on your child’s interests and development while gently challenging them. We trust in learning through play and we value loose parts and open ended materials both in our indoor and outdoor environments. This provides an opportunity to explore and helps build imagination, creativity and curiosity.
It is our goal to promote a welcoming environment that encourages expression, engagement, supports development, and provides opportunities for the children to build a sense of who they are in the world.
Most of what children need to learn during their early years cannot be taught: it’s discovered though play.
– Ruth Wilson
Toddlers
18 months (or older) to 30 months
The Toddler program at Wise Owl provides an amazing opportunity for the children, educators and parents to develop rich connections. There is one (1) primary educator for each group of five (5) toddlers, thereby forming very strong relationships between the children and the educator.
The flow of the day keeps the children engaged as they learn through play indoors and outdoors. The play that occurs follows the children’s lead, according to their current interests. As toddlers often have the need to be on the move, this is respected by providing plenty of gross motor activities. Big body play is complimented by lots of opportunities for quiet interactions as we enjoy snuggling up with books. Sensory play is also a big part of our program as we provide sand, water and paint for the children to explore and express themselves.
Children dawdle because they’re seeing things for the first time. The veins of a simple leaf sparks curiosity and joy. Adults could learn a lot from them.
– Angela Anagnost-Repke
Preschool
30 months (or older) to 6 years
The Preschool programs focuses on creating engaging play invitations by following the interests of the children, and providing materials to engage those interests in a variety of ways with the goal of enriching children’s hearts, minds and bodies through play. This means the children are provided with many different materials (loose parts, puzzles, books, etc.) that try to tap into their interests (animals, cars, dress up, etc.) to encourage children to explore and grow their abilities through play.
Behaviour is modelled by both children and educators with the goal of children being self-motivated to act positively rather than relying on a sense of reward or punishment. For this reason, our conflicts are resolved through dialogue, and emotional regulation is encouraged through active and passive strategies such as balance centers, mindfulness practices, and encouraging communication of emotions.
As educators, we strive to develop a program that is warm, calm, and inviting, where children feel a sense of belonging and understand how excited we are to spend time together. This is encouraged through reflective practice and collaboration to keep pushing ourselves to learn and grow as educators so that we may create a program that is as equitable, diverse, and inclusive as possible.
We play outdoors as much as possible in all kinds of weather, except when it is unsafe to do so. We also focus on getting outside into our community through walks and walkable field trips to nearby areas such as the marina and Pansy Patch Park. For these reasons, children are expected to have extra clothing and appropriate outdoor clothing at all times of the year.
We look forward to meeting you and your child(ren) and helping them grow!
If we want our children to move mountains, we first have to let them get out of their chairs.
– Nicolette Sowder
Full Day Kindergarten
44 months (or older) to 6 years & beyond
Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own).
– Richard Louv
The Full Day Kindergarten program at Wise Owl focuses on learning through play, hands on experiences, and inquiry. We follow the guidelines set out in the Ontario Full Day Kindergarten (2016) and the How Does the Learning Happen, Ontario’s Pedagogy for Early Years documents.
Relationships are key to learning, helping children feel a sense of belonging, and connection to the program, the educator and the other children. We work in small groups, with a maximum ratio of ten (10) children to one (1) educator.
The outdoors and the community are an invaluable learning tool. We have an active Forest Play component to our program, spending three (3) mornings a week outside exploring local green spaces. Learning and exploring alongside nature helps to develop and strengthen the child’s sense of self and wellbeing. We are fortunate that our centre is located centrally, providing access to a variety of green spaces to visit, play, learn, and explore!
Time in nature is not leisure time; it’s an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own).
– Richard Louv
Before and After School
Kindergarten & School-Age
Our Before and After School program follows Ontario’s pedagogical document How Does the Learning Happen?
When school is in session, our mornings and afternoons together are not as long as we would like. We have snack together and a short time to play, exploring the indoor and outdoor program.
When school is out for PA days, March Break and the summer time, we take full advantage of this time together. We explore our community by going on field trips to different places in our community. We regularly visit Pansy Patch Park and the Marina, strengthening our connection to our environment.
We value our environments and consider them the third teacher. We view each child as competent and capable, and provide them with extended periods of time for uninterrupted play that is based on their interests. Our program strives to respect each individual child, ensuring they see themselves within the space, and that our program offers them opportunities to build on their abilities and strengths. We focus on relationships and work on developing healthy attachments. We believe it is a critical first step for each child to feel connected to their educator, peers and environment. When children feel a sense of belonging and feel heard, respected and valued, it paves the way for them to explore their environment.
Our goal is to ensure each child thrives in our care, supporting them in inquiry based learning and allowing them to be their truest self.
A child who climbs may fall. But a child who never climbs is at much greater risk.
– Betty Jones